North to Alaska

We had booked a cruise to Alaska through the "Inside Passage", starting in Vancouver, BC. since we had long planned nach Alaska gebucht. Die Kreuzfahrt begann in Vancouver, British Columbia. Since we had long planned a visit to the Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon and we had various things planned to do in Seattle we drove to Seattle. so far so good. The boat was scheduled to leave Sunday afternoon at 4 pm from Vancouver. So we got up bright and early to catch a 9:30 flight to Vancouver. That, of course, required being at SEATAC at 7:30 to navigate TSA, etc. Everything was going our way and we arrived in Vancouver at 10:30. Canadian customs and immigration was a breeze. We found the transfer bus that would take us to Canada Place Pier. We got a nice little sighseeing tour of Vancouver and arrived at the pier close to noon.

Canada Place

And then we waited. In front of us were about 1,000 more or less hopeful fellow passengers, to be followed by a lot more. Just for grins and giggles we got to crawl through TSA again , to be followed by US customs and immigration control. Then - no not yet the ship - came the health inspection and then, finally the line to get on board, get the key cards, etc. This took another 25 minutes since Norwegian obviously hires the mentally disabled. Kreuzfahrtschiff am Canada Place

But finally at 3 pm we made it on the ship. I had a measly yogurt at 6 am in Seattle and the first priority was getting some food - any food. Therefore our first goal was finding a restaurant. We had just found a bar when the announcement came: "all venues will immediately close because in 30 minutes we must conduct the mandatory evacuation drill"! At that point I was convinced they were trying to kill me and all I wanted was to be back home! Since that was not an option, we figured things could only improve, as llong as the ship did not hit an iceberg. Here we finally saw Vancouver so to speak trhough the rear view mirror

   We are leaving Vancouver bay, on the Alaska!

Our ship, the Norwegian Pearl

a restaurant

Our cabin. It included a balcony and sitting area and was large enough for the two of us. The ship overall was nice, the food was acceptable (I have VERY high expectations)Unsere Kabine, mit Balkon, gross genug für uns zwei. Das Schiff war angenehm, das Essen recht gut (ich bin SEHR anspruchsvoll!) There were plenty of shopping opportunities (jewelry purchases almost seem required on a cruise!) There were also plenty of entertainment options, including a casino and swimming pool. However, at the beginning of May it was too cold to swim for most people, including us. However, the cool weather made it perfect for long walks around the decks. The service was excellent, including the cute folded towels each evening: Bunny

Elephant

The purpose of the trip was not to eat drink and be merry on board, but to see something of Alaska. The map below shows that only a relatively small coastal strip belongs to Alaska, most of the mainland in this area is part of British Columbia. Our voyage was through the "Inside Passage", meaning between islands and mainland. Our first stop would be Ketchikan , followed by Juneau. Then cruised to Skagway (at the top of the map) followed by a visit to Tracy Arms Fjord. After that the trip goes to the bottom of the map to Prince Rupert. Then a day at sea for the long ride to Seattle. There we spent a few days with family and friends and picked up the car for our drive back to California with a leisurly sidetrip through the Redwoods 

We very much enjoyed the cruise between the islands and the mainland. There was always something different to see - sometimes another ship, snowcovered mountains

The weather was much better than we had expected: There was rain, but usually at night. While we were at sea it was often overcast, but as can be seen from the pictures, there were sunny days as well

Beautiful sunsets

village in front of mist shrouded mountain

Icefloes

Islands in the mist

Ashland North to Alaska Ketchikan Juneau Skagway Tracy Arms Fjord Prince Rupert Seattle Redwoods